Tisei officially enters 6th District congressional race

Tuesday

Nov 15, 2011 at 12:01 AMNov 15, 2011 at 3:19 PM

A desire for change nearly got Richard Tisei elected lieutenant governor in 2010, and the Wakefield Republican is hoping to tap into that same spirit as he officially kicks off his run for Congress. Tisei took to the steps of the Americal Civic Center in Wakefield Tuesday to announce his candidacy for the Sixth Congressional District.

Matthew Reid / mreid@wickedlocal.com

A desire for change nearly got Richard Tisei elected lieutenant governor in 2010, and the Wakefield Republican is hoping to tap into that same spirit as he officially kicks off his run for Congress.

To chants of “Go Richard Go!” Tisei took to the steps of the Americal Civic Center in downtown Wakefield Tuesday morning to announce his candidacy for the Sixth Congressional District, where he hopes to unseat U.S. Rep. John Tierney.

Just a year removed from a failed run at the lieutenant governor’s office, Tisei acknowledged that the race for Congress will be a hard-fought one, and he knows how careful would-be elected officials must be about making campaign promises. But he did make two specific guarantees should he survive the primary process (see sidebar) and unseat Tierney next November.

“I promise that I will truly represent the people of the district, and I promise that I will not disappoint you,” Tisei said to those in the crowd.

Much of Tisei’s announcement focused on his blue-collar roots and willingness to work directly on behalf of the constituents in his district, an approach that he contrasted with Tierney’s. He said he has never given up on the idea that America is a land of opportunity and that the people’s voice should never go unheard.

“I believe that hard work should be rewarded, not attacked and vilified,” he said. “It will take a great commitment to get it done, and we need someone who will put the people’s interests above the special interests.”

Tisei, 49, ran for lieutenant governor in 2010 on the Republican ticket with Charlie Baker. He was elected to the State House as a 23-year-old, serving six years as a representative and 20 years in the State Senate. He is a former state Senate Minority Leader.

While most of his speech focused on his own family and political history, Tisei did directly reference the sitting congressman several times, painting Tierney as a “business as usual” politician who is not doing enough to help those who elected him.

“If you are happy with the way things are going, re-elect John Tierney, because you know that things will stay the same,” Tisei said. “[Tierney] believes that higher taxes are good for the country ... for too long we’ve been living on borrowed money and on borrowed time.”

Tisei claimed that Tierney has regularly been voted one of the most ideological and left-wing members of Congress.

“My opponent represents the extreme, not the mainstream,” Tisei said. “What this district needs is an independent-minded congressman, and John Tierney is part of the problem in Washington, not the solution.”

Tisei listed the growing national debt, high unemployment rate and increasing number of Americans on food stamps as reasons why Tierney — and President Barack Obama — have “abandoned” the promises of change made by Democrats just a short time ago. He closed his announcement in the same way he opened it, by talking about how his working-class roots have given him the experience and values needed to best serve the people of the Sixth Congressional District.

“My grandfather would always tell me stories of how hard it was back in the day, but he told me to never lose faith in America because there is no country like it on Earth,” he said. “I’ve never forgotten that.”

Tisei’s views of the current state of affairs in Washington is in stark contrast to those shard by members of the Democratic party, which in some cases turn Tisei’s message of being one who “fights for the working class” upside-down.

“Make no mistake, this is the beginning of what promises to be a long and contentious Republican primary and whoever wins will face the difficult task of defending the TEA Party controlled House of Representatives’ attempts to slash Social Security and Medicare, cut student loans for college students, eliminate the EPA and Department of Education and protect the wealthiest Americans from having to pay their fare share,” said Kevin Franck, representing the Massachusetts Democratic Party. “At the end of the day, Massachusetts voters need a fighter for the middle class, not another vote to keep John Boehner and the TEA Party in charge of Congress.”

The timing is right

In an interview with the Wakefield Observer last November in the days following the gubernatorial election, Tisei was non-committal when asked if he would consider running for office again, but didn’t rule it out either.

“I can see an opportunity arising, in some capacity, which would lead me to run for office again,” he said at the time. “But for right now I have no definitive plans. It would have to be the right opportunity for me.”

Time will tell if the experience he gained during his 14-month campaign beside Baker will help his chances of winning the congressional seat, but Tisei said last November that the chance to meet a wide variety of people from all corners of Massachusetts gave him a unique perspective on the challenges facing the working class in the state, and that those meetings would surely help guide him should he run for office again.

Ann Hendricks was on hand in Wakefield for Tisei’s announcement Tuesday, morning, and she said that while she isn’t 100 percent convinced that Tisei is the right man for the job, she said the region could very well be looking for the type of candidate that Tisei promises to be.

“I certainly think that this is a much more GOP-leaning district now compared to any time before,” said Hendricks, a lifelong registered Democrat who lived in Wakefield for many years before moving out of town roughly a decade ago. “Just look at how well they’ve been fairing lately. The proof is right there.”

Hendricks said it started with Republican Scott Brown defeating Martha Coakley in 2010’s special election for U.S. Senate, and those sentiments carried over to the gubernatorial election later that year. The Baker-Tisei ticket swept all seven precincts in Wakefield and fared well around the greater Boston region, making Hendricks and other Tisei supporters at Tuesday’s announcement optimistic that Tierney would fail to be reelected.

Tisei was introduced Tuesday by Albert Turco, chairman of the Wakefield Board of Selectmen and a longtime Tisei supporter. Turco, who is a Republican State Committee member, touted Tisei as someone who works well with members of both political parties and someone with a proven track record

“He’s a man with the diligence, good judgment and responsiveness needed in Congress,” Turco said.

Turco has worked on Tisei’s campaigns in the past, and said he knows from experience the type of leader the former senator would be.

“He would not be a remote congressman, someone we would see once or twice a year,” Turco said. “He will be here in the district, meeting with the people he serves, despite their political views.”

Hendricks agreed, saying she “bumped into” Tisei on several occasions during his run for lieutenant governor, but was never once approached personally by Deval Patrick or Tim Murray.

“Richard shook my hand last year and looked me in the eye,” Hendricks said. “He’s the type of person who goes door to door, and that still counts for something.”

Multiple people interviewed by the Observer, some of whom did not want their name mentioned in the paper, disagreed somewhat with Hendricks’ point of view, saying that Patrick and Murray were not only accessible during the 2010 campaign, but have been so during their time in office as well.

“[Tisei] is from Wakefield, so of course he frequents the town, just as Scott Brown does,” said Mary Forbes, an Independent voter from Somerville. “At the end of the day it is results that matter most.”